Tamago and Meat Soboro Inarizushi Recipe

By Stuart Turner

Inarizushi is a much loved favourite at many sushi restaurants - it consists of a deep fried, soft tofu pocket which is seasoned with rice wine and soy, which is then stuffed with sushi rice. Optionally, you can add toppings to your Inari pockets too, just to add a little more flavour.

Without toppings, you experience the most wonderful mix of sweet and salty sushi flavours! Inari pockets are sweet with a sticky glaze, but when dipped in soy sauce they truly cause uncontrollable mouth watering.

Inarizushi is often a vegeterian option, but be careful if you taste these little treasures in Japan, as in Japan they do sometimes use gelatine in their tofu and the tofu pockets can be marinated in bonito (fish) stock too. The tofu pockets we sell at SushiSushi are 100% Veggie, and this recipe offers something delicious for vegeterians, but also a meatier version for carnivores!

Our first topping is tamago, which is a sweet egg omelet. The second topping is meat soboro, a savory mix of pork, ginger and soy sauce.

But of course, as with all sushi, Inari pockets are really all about top notch rice, and if you want to create the very best sushi rice, we recommend our Perfect Sushi Rice kit, which comes with everything you need for sushi rice - even a rice cooker!

First, get the sushi rice going so it's ready in time for the inari pocket construction. Cook the sushi rice as per the packet instructions, in a saucepan with a lid. Simmer until the water has evapourated, then season with a mix of 1 tbsp each of rice wine, sugar and salt. Mix well then leave to cool.

﻿Now, make the tamago omelet. Use kitchen roll to oil the pan evenly, then in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, dashi stock, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. Pour this into the hot tamago pan, and cook and flip until thoroughly cooked. Normally you would roll tamago, but in this case, we just need small pieces. Leave the omelet somewhere to cool.

Now cook the meat soboro. Heat the sesame oil in a pan, then add the onions, garlic and ginger. Fry lightly until softened, then add the meat. Cook until brown, then add the soy and oyster sauce. Simmer this until the sauce is thick and reduced. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the inari pockets. You will need to refer to the instructions for these, as some will need soaking, where as others are ready to go!

Take the rice from earlier and take a portion the size of your palm. Squeeze into a sort of lemon shape, then stuff the rice bundle into an inari pocket. The edges of the pocket should also be stuffed inwards for a neat finish. Make sure the inari pockets have a half a centimetre rim ready for the extra filling.

Top some inari pockets with the meat soboro mixture, for the others, dice up tamago and cucumber very finely and use as a topping.